The United States and China in Power Transition - Strategic Studies ...

numerous attacks and intrusions on China. China was
forced to sign a world record of 745 unequal treaties
with 22 foreign powers 52 and lost Hong Kong to the
UK, Macau to Portugal, a large piece of territory in
northern China to Russia (see the shaded circle to China’s
north in Figure 4-2), and Taiwan to Japan.
China has seen changes in its territory many times
in history. It has been a pattern that following each
dynastic fall China suffered territorial loss or internal
fragmentation. But this ancient nation has a remarkable
capacity to retain its unity, the persistent quest
of which has resulted in making China the longestsurviving
and most coherent civilization in the world
and molding the Chinese “great unity mentality”
(大一统观念). Indeed, every new ruler of China takes
the mission of restoring the greatness of the Middle
Kingdom and recovering its “stolen” territories as a
mandate from heaven. It is no exception for the contemporary
Chinese leaders. The CCP has had this mission
in its party platform since its founding in 1921.
Since taking control of mainland China in 1949, the
CCP has made the unification of China one of its three
sacred historical missions (the other two are modernization
of China and safeguarding world peace). With
the return of Hong Kong and Macau to PRC sovereign
rule in 1997 and 1999 respectively, the unification of
Taiwan with mainland China has become what many
Chinese call the last chapter of this historical mission,
without which, China cannot bring this history to a
graceful close.
But Taiwan is more than a piece of territory in history.
In 2001, China signed a “Treaty of Good-Neighborliness
and Friendly Cooperation” with Russia.
A key part of the treaty is about settling the border
disputes between the two nations. China and Russia
100